he had won an election over the tax issue and the republicans lost over the tax issue. they're pushing that so far off the table that i don't even hear them talking about tax reform anymore. the president is making a gamble here, that the public will see the republicans as irresponsible and absurd, as he called them, that you can't let the united states of america default, that's not who we are, and that the american public will be embarrassed by this fight. the republicans are making the calculation, you know what, the public is going to be on our side, because we have to get on a path of fiscal sustainability over the long term so they're going to be with us, they're going to want spending cuts. >> we've been measuring the political pressure on the speaker as it builds, it seems, to a big climax here. how much pressure is he in right now? >> huge amount of pressure. don't forget, he didn't have a great time in the fiscal cliff fight. he couldn't bring a majority of his own caucus to vote for that final proposal. this time, his own caucus has put him on notice. a, don'